One of the most important influences on the collapse of the British state in 1642 was the rebellion in the Irish provinces of Ulster and Leinster launched on the night of 21 October 1641. A great deal of work in the last two decades has been concerned with the way in which the four nations or three kingdoms within the British Isles were wrapped into one multifaceted political, religious, and violent conflict that stretched across the archipelago for two decades. The name of the conflict has as a result been much debated, and after twenty years it appears that the term “English Civil War” has again risen to the top of the heap. In this book, the undisputed term “Irish Rebellion” has been used to focus the study on one of these relationships: that which existed between the “Ulster” rebellion and England. There is, of course, scope for looking at Scotland in a similar light, and while David Stevenson and Jane Ohlmeyer have undertaken excellent work on aspects of those links, this book does prompt the thought that there is a line or examination to be followed, and one might suggest that Wales too could be explored; here it is referred to rather than covered.

Cope begins with a strong contextual chapter that locates both the rebellion and the book itself into the British (and Irish) context and clearly justifies the purpose of this explicit study. The interchange of personal narration and popular imagination forms the very important section that follows. Through the next three chapters, the means by which the manifold experiences of the English and Scottish colonists was communicated to England and how they became altered in form and purpose once across the Irish Sea is explicated. One of the immediate effects of the rebellion was the expulsion of, first, English and, later, Scots settlers from their homes and communities across Ireland. The impact of the native Irish rebels’ drive to retake “lost lands” was felt across Ireland within weeks of the October rebellion. Large numbers of refugees took to the roads and headed for the coast in various states of distress and under trying and dangerous circumstances. Within weeks, these people were being interviewed in Dublin and some other ports as the government attempted to grasp the scale of the financial losses and the names of the rebel leaders. This culminated in over thirty volumes of depositions, which have been used for various purposes ever since. However, in the immediate aftermath of the rebellion, some of these accounts were selected and transmitted quickly to England to provoke a series of reactions, including greed and righteous anger, to inspire financing and an impetus for armed intervention. The way in which personal narratives became “troped” across the channel is a strong and important theme, and therefore Cope's work in this area is going to be very useful.

In the latter half of the book, following a chapter on the impact of the personal stories coming from Ireland, combined with the troubling news of the military situation upon English listeners and readers, Cope moves to examine the practical impact of the rebellion on national and local government in England. It has long been clear that the refugees from Ireland placed a burden on local communities in Britain obliged to provide “out-relief” to the migrant colonists as they criss-crossed England in search of their preemigration roots. Coming inland from a series of ports with trade connections with Ireland, the refugees were heading to their family homes. Cope also explores the taxation raised for fighting the war. The mechanics of how taxation was collected and how it was used and misused as England and Wales fell into civil war, and both royalists and parliamentarians needed resources to fund their own growing armies, are usefully covered.

This is a useful study that explores an important series of aspects of the relationship between England and Ireland. Cope raises important questions about the relevance of a British aspect to the crisis when seen from the perspective of those targeted by appeals to “Britishness.” Sympathy generated by the plight of the Irish and the economic problems in war taxation and out-relief are nicely juxtaposed. There are gaps in the exploration of local sources that do affect the ability to ensure that the exploration is subtle in places, but it is probably better to see this as a strength. Cope's explorations deserve to be tested, and because of the limitations in the sources and regions covered, there are opportunities for this to be done at local and regional levels. The assertions about Britishness also call out for testing: it may be that the English reflections on this are not matched across the British Isles. Overall, this book works as a fine set of case studies with an interesting argument, while calling out for further reconsideration and exploration. It is a book to be commended.